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"You don't know how to drink. Your whole generation, you drink for the wrong reasons. My generation, we drink because it's good, because it feels better than unbuttoning your collar, because we deserve it. We drink because it's what men do."

So do you want more HRs or more doubles???? You seem to be looking for two different things. There are a few really good hitting SSs in MLB. Jeter, Tulow, Reyes maybe one or two others. Tejada is in a group below the elites. There are many others way below him. What's wrong with that???

I was just making the point that it's more likely that he will hit more doubles in the future than homeruns, which I think would also be better for him and the team. He's a natural line drive hitter. He doesn't need to be trying to hit homeruns.

Originally Posted by Rio40

I'm not ragging on Tejada and Mets Fantatic the Luis Castillo argument doesn't work because he actually had speed.

I compared Tejada to Castillo because both are/were good hitters who didn't have the ability to hit homeruns (Castillo had 10 seasons in which he hit 2 homeruns or less). I didn't compare them in that they're the same type of baserunner.

Based on what, some of these ridiculous stats everyone throws around???? What does he have a low FIP-a-dee-do-da or BABIPPY???? Is there now a shortstop ERA or something????

Watch the games. He's a decent SS. He's not a corner stone, he's a complementary player. The problem is we have no cornerstones for him to complement.

Yes.

Jose Reyes is a cornerstone player.

Ruben Tejada is a complementary player.

It's generally not a good idea to replace a cornerstone player with a complementary player unless you have another cornerstone player ready to fill another position. But the Mets other than Wright had no other cornerstones.

Hell, they didn't even have an outfield.

The problem is when you start replacing cornerstone players with complementary players, people stop complimenting your team.

See what i did there?

"Ain't got the call no more. Got a lot of sinful idears – but they seem kinda sensible...."

Ruben is a decent SS, doesn't have too much flash, but a solid .340 OBP guy w/ average defense. Given how much decent 2B/SS get paid on the open market/arb, we should lock him up now. We can probably lock him up for 5 yrs/4 mil, and it'd be wise to do so.

Ruben is a decent SS, doesn't have too much flash, but a solid .340 OBP guy w/ average defense. Given how much decent 2B/SS get paid on the open market/arb, we should lock him up now. We can probably lock him up for 5 yrs/4 mil, and it'd be wise to do so.

5 Years / 4 Mil total????

Better print the contract in English and hope he doesn't understand it.

Tejada is not a flashy SS, but he is very valuable. He's just a notch better than your average SS, but lacks tools that would allow for some projection. If he can get his OBP to what it was in the minors or just a year ago, he can be very valuable. I don't think he will improve much more, but if he can post some .350-.360 OBP numbers, that can help us a lot. Additionally if he can get some more XBH, that could really make him a quality SS.

So basically, he plays good defense, he's a patient hitter and lacks power. If he can improve his BB%, get more XBH, and get maybe 15-18 SB's that would be his ceiling in my opinion. The good thing is he can probably do all of this next year.

Tejada is not a flashy SS, but he is very valuable. He's just a notch better than your average SS, but lacks tools that would allow for some projection. If he can get his OBP to what it was in the minors or just a year ago, he can be very valuable. I don't think he will improve much more, but if he can post some .350-.360 OBP numbers, that can help us a lot. Additionally if he can get some more XBH, that could really make him a quality SS.

So basically, he plays good defense, he's a patient hitter and lacks power. If he can improve his BB%, get more XBH, and get maybe 15-18 SB's that would be his ceiling in my opinion. The good thing is he can probably do all of this next year.

I'd say he can improve his hitting, specifically driving the ball into the gap. His fielding is already so smooth that there's not much to improve other than arm strength (which is already pretty solid), and anyone's baserunning could always get a little better, for the most part.

I expect him to become a true number 2 hitter in a few years, not someone who could bat second but really is an eigth hitter